Palestine and India agree on $40m construction projects

Six agreements on developing infrastructure projects in Palestine, worth over $40m, have been signed between Palestinian and Indian delegates.

They include a hospital, a printing press, schools and a centre for women’s empowerment and were all subjects of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The most expensive project is for the India-Palestine Super-Specialty hospital at Beit Sahour, in Bethlehem Governorate, at a cost $30m, while the India-Palestine Centre for empowering women - to be called "Turathi" - is set to cost $5m, as is a new printing facility in Ramallah.

Schools in the villages of Muthalth Al Shuhada and Tamoon are estimated to need around $1m each for building and improvements.

The agreements were reached during a visit to Palestine by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Six MoUs were signed between India and Palestine worth USD 40 million. This was welcomed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his team," Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said, in a media briefing held when the delegation arrived in Abu Dhabi.

"The Palestinian President thanked India for the ongoing projects. This time I would like to bring two new projects to the notice. India will build a specialty hospital of 100 beds in Palestine. India will also build a women's empowerment centre where women from different parts of Palestine can come and learn skill."

Gokhale added that renovation of schools in Palestine is underway and "we are going to supply machinery to the national printing press of the country."

He also dubbed Prime Minister Modi's visit to Palestine as "historic in every sense."

"During the term of this Government, the President of India made the first ever visit to Palestine in 2015. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made an official visit to India in May 2017 and now for the first time Prime Minister of India has made a visit to Palestine in 2018," Gokhale said.

"The three visits put together, I think, reflect the commitment of the Government of India to the cause of Palestine.”